Opinion

I despise telephones. I always have. Oh, sure there was a time in my youth when Iee^could talk for an hour (what my father allowed) with some silly boy I was crushing on. But I never was one to just pick up the phone to call someone and chat.

Iee^much preferred then–as I do now–looking someone face to face when I speak with them. You can gauge so much from someone’s body language and eyes that just aren’t possible via a telephone conversation.

Let me ask a question to the people of Williston. When you go into a city what you see is either eye appealing or an eye sore to you. Correct? What conditions are our Williston Business District buildings in? A step away from being condemned in some buildings.

So why did the CRA spend so much time (months) researching to find prime property behind the Williston Business District? It's supposed to beautify our neighborhood maybe encouraging people to walk around possibly wanting to shop in other businesses we were told.

"Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see!" This old saying came back to me full force when I walked into a local store in time to hear the cashier parrot what a previous customer told her. She said that starting immediately the government was going to deduct $100 per paycheck to pay for the new health care bill. She was still upset even after I tried to convince her it was a lie. Why are people so willing to believe rumors instead of checking the facts?

Why has the city of Williston decided to enforce a 2002 ordinance without notifying residents. We were verbally informed when we paid our utility bills that we could no longer pay 80 percent and there was some publicity. This was bad enough considering our unusually cold winter causing increased heating costs.

One of the most frustrating parts of making laws is the ability of lawmakers to tack on completely unrelated amendments to a bill. Consumer protection became the law of the land in February, and riding along on that bill’s coattails was an amendment that spells disaster in my personal life. It has nothing to do with money and everything to do with feeling safe in our National Parks.

I attended the Levy County Commission meeting on April 6 and all I can say is shame on three of our county commissioners.

The residents of South Levy County, have always felt under-represented until Gov. Crist appointed Commissioner [Marsha] Drew to the board. Since being in office, she has tried to address the needs of her constituents, but has been blocked by the power struggle taking place on the board.

Time goes by so quickly, it can be easy to forget important deadlines and even easier to let critical items fall to the nether regions of your to-do list. Whether you get to everything or not, time marches on — so we’d like to share some March reminders with you.

Two weeks ago more than 150 people from all walks of life, all faiths, all ages and all colors came together to help out an Eagle Scout candidate while cleaning the cemetery at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church located on Hwy. 318.

In short order, tons of debris was removed and the burial spaces cleared to showcase the final resting place of many of this town’s loved ones.

There are many projects that could benefit from the joint effort of the community’s residents. Anything is possible when we all work together for good.

The strength of any community lays with its residents and businesses. For the past 25 years, the Williston Chamber of Commerce has supported local business and promoted “Shop at Home.” That’s because every dollar spent in Williston turns over and over and over.

This year marks the Chamber’s Silver Anniversary and last Friday it threw itself a party to salute the people who work tirelessly, selflessly to ensure the economy of Williston stays strong.

Health care reform has been put back into play by President Obama and the Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives and the Senate. A seven-hour televised summit between Republicans and Democrats last Thursday accomplished nothing. An event that was supposed to foster bipartisan cooperation only further exemplified the divisiveness of this issue. Republicans would like to see health care reform smothered in its cradle, while Democrats continue to grasp at straws (and votes) that do not appear to exist.

I would like to thank the first responders, following the emergency landing of my aircraft on Sunday morning, Feb. 21. I was only able to talk briefly to some of the many people, who came to help me and my son out of the aircraft, and into the ambulances. I don’t know most of the people who came to help, but my sincere thanks to all of you. My son Phillip and I will be forever grateful for your quick response and assistance.

We are both recovering well, and we feel fortunate to live in a community, such as Williston.

I called my mom Monday night. It was late for her 9:58 p.m. in Murray, Utah, and late for me, 11:58 p.m. in Levy County, Florida. My mom told me that early in January that she’d like me to make calling her more often my new year’s resolution. So I did.

When I moved to Williston in the early 80s, it was a very nice place to live, not much there but that’s the way people liked it. Now having returned for family and personal reasons it has slipped into a state of sad disrepair with the people of this community and the government all sharing in the blame.